UN General Assembly Resolutions:
Resolution 51/28

(December 4, 1996)

Having considered the item entitled "The situation in the Middle
East,"

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General, 1/

Recalling Security Council resolution 497 (1981) of 17 December 1981,

Reaffirming the fundamental principle of the inadmissibility of
the acquisition of territory by force,

Reaffirming once more the applicability of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of
12 August 1949, 2/ to the occupied Syrian Golan,

Deeply concerned that Israel has not withdrawn from the Syrian
Golan, which has been under occupation since 1967, contrary to the
relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions,

Noting with satisfaction the convening at Madrid on 30 October
1991 of the Peace Conference on the Middle East on the basis of
Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, 338
(1973) of 22 October 1973 and 425 (1978) of 19 March 1978 and the
principle of land for peace,

Expressing deep concern about the stumbling of the peace process
on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks, and hoping that talks for ensuring
a just and comprehensive peace in the region will soon be resumed from
the point that has been reached,

1. Declares that Israel has failed so far to comply with
Security Council resolution 497 (1981);

2. Declares also that the Knesset decision of 11 November 1981
annexing the occupied Syrian Golan constitutes a grave violation of
resolution 497 (1981) and therefore is null and void and has no
validity whatsoever, and calls upon Israel to rescind it;

3. Reaffirms its determination that all relevant provisions of
the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention of 1907, 3/ and the
Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in
Time of War, of 12 August 1949, 2/ continue to apply to the Syrian
territory occupied by Israel since 1967, and calls upon the parties
thereto to respect and ensure respect for their obligations under
those instruments in all circumstances;

4. Determines once more that the continued occupation of the
Syrian Golan and its de facto annexation constitute a stumbling block
in the way of achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the
region;

5. Calls for the resumption of the talks on the Syrian and
Lebanese tracks and for the respect for the commitments and guarantees
reached during the previous talks;

6. Demands once more that Israel withdraw from all the occupied
Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967 in implementation of the
relevant Security Council resolutions;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General
Assembly at its fifty-second session on the implementation of the
present resolution.

72nd plenary meeting
4 December 1996

Notes

1/ A/51/543.

2/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973.

3/ See Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Hague
Conventions and Declarations of 1899 and 1907, (New York, Oxford
University Press, 1915).